Kindergarten Success

Your little one is growing up and its time to start thinking about Kindergarten placement. It’s a big step for you and your child. How do you know what they need to learn and what is the best type of program for them? Atlanta has some of the best schools in the country, but all of the choices and the competitiveness of getting in can be stressful and even overwhelming. By now, most parents have worked with their children to learn their ABC’s, colors, and counting. Many parents have also invested in specialized daycares, preschools, or private tutors.
 
But there is more to Kindergarten success than just having a large vocabulary, learning math and reading, or even learning a second language. The skills important for Kindergarten that are less often talked about, but are just as important if not more so, are social and emotional maturity.
 
Children entering Kindergarten need social skills to get along with new peers, to get along with and listen to teachers, and to make new friends. Children also need to learn how to handle transitions as the school day includes many different activities and new schedules. Children need to learn how to understand, remember, and follow directions. Children need to get used to sitting still to listen to instructions and complete tasks so that they can gain the most out of their school experience. Children also need the skills to wait their turn, wait for directions, and wait for permission from adults to adjust to the new Kindergarten day. Another skill is having the stamina to persist working and following directions throughout the day. Kindergarten teachers don’t expect their students to be able to sit through hours of lectures like high school or college students, but learning for 7 or 8 hours a day is quite a change fore many children. Many children weren’t developmentally ready to do this before, and Kindergarten is their first experience with more traditional school models.
 
While learning to read is an important skill, learning to make new friends and to feel successful in and enjoy school are also important goals for your child’s Kindergarten year. The early academic skills learned in Kindergarten are important, but your child having a positive early school experience may be even more so. This sets the stage for you child enjoying school, building their self-esteem and their confidence in themselves and their academic abilities, and setting academic goals for themselves.
 
Similarly, these skills are important for the Kindergarten entrance exams, or ERBs, and private school entrance exams. Learn more about these skills with the Kindergarten testing. Learn more about resources available to help your child build these skills.